I've not been doing quite as well on the old thrift this month.
Chi - you've been an absolute legend with all of your thrifty ways - I am truly inspired! Things are not quite so rosy down here in Notts..
A good friend of ours, Jess, once compared saving money to being on a diet. It's really hard to start with but then once you get into it, it starts feeling really good, and becomes a habit. This is very true. However, as I have discovered this month, when you hit a time of stress - all sensibility can tend to go out of the window. This month I have definitely become a bit lax on the old saving - buying lunch rather than taking a packed one and going on a fair few impromptu dinners out (I'm afraid the list goes on...)
HOWEVER. Before T6 I would have given up and started ignoring my bank balance - shoving my head very firmly and quickly into the sand. But I am a changed women. Tonight I sat down with my online bank and my Filofax and forced myself to face up to my spending this month (which turns out wasn't as bad as I had initially thought), and make a plan for the month ahead. In doing this I have realised I will soon be back on track with my saving plan, and it's served as a good wake up call for future thriftiness!
For those amongst us who enjoy a bit of willow, tissue paper and general craft, I invite you to spend a Saturday afternoon (12-4pm) at the current lantern workshops which are taking place at the Old Junior School on South View Road, Sheffield. All workshops run up until 31st March and it's all in aid of the Sharrow Lantern festival where other lanterners will parade their efforts around the local community on Sunday 1st April (weather depending).All materials are provided at the workshops. Our friend Lu and co from the Creative Action network manage this event which has successfully been running for the last eight years and there is a great community feel with people of all ages getting involved. This years theme is magic! When Ken and I did this event a few years back for their folklore theme, I had a great time making my toadstool. Ken made an apple. See below:
Favourite moment: When two young men started chasing my toadstool down London Road shouting 'shroooooooommm'. It's a toadstool, damn you!
If the lantern workshops don't take your fancy, but you still want to be a spectator, all the lantern action starts off at Mount Pleasant Park, 7pm where we are led 'pied piper' style by the Sheffield samba band! The parade finishes at the General CemeteryPark. My favourite part is when it starts getting dark so the lanterns are properly illuminated to full effect. See some of the shots from yesteryear.
Another bonus. Both events are free. For more info on the festival and other community based projects ran by CAN, follow this link: http://www.creativeaction.net/ . I want to try one of their cookalongs!
I've enjoyed the cultural exploration from your last blog Ken.It seems Ken has been on it with the blog chat having published three blogs in my absence! Good work and blogging! I apologise for my absence – I have been out in the thrifty wilderness still being thrifty as possible but failing in my responsibility to report back.As Ken documented, we had an excellent time in the Lake District with our friends following four days of eating, drinking, walking and mourning for Whitney in our own way.... See my photos below for a brief overview of our lovely time in the Lakes. 'We are truly Lakeslovers!'
Day one
Shout out and thanks to Ken's mum who made this. It was AMAZING!
Now we are out of the thrift closet, having came out last month to our friends and sharing our blog, there seems to be plenty of thrift commentary which has entered our social conversation and it is much welcomed. I have learnt the following:
1.A random one but people seem to have loads of tips about using up a ‘whole’ chicken.At the moment, current tips people have shared include buying a whole chicken and using it up for lunch instead of buying the packets with cooked chicken pieces .
Price comparison from my local cooperative
£3.48 – Whole free range chicken (I may look into Organic pricing too as I should try to be thrifty as well as ethically aware).
2 packets of BBQ chicken - £4.50 so a small saving. (One thing to add though, from experience, you definitely do not get a whole chicken’s worth from the packets)!
Rach suggested for true thrift, you use up the bones to make stock which is a good idea to share which I have yet to try and will at some point once I am in the mood for soup.When I commented about my whole chicken purchase(random work break chat as I thought chicken might go off pretty quickly) a work colleague of mine passed on a chicken pearl of wisdom.To strip the cooked chicken and freeze it and when I need a bit for lunch, defrost it in the fridge so thanks everyone for the tips!
Railing and gallavanting
With train fares aver increasing and the fact I have left the safe haven which we would call the 18-25 age bracket and making me ineligible for a ‘Young Persons’ railcard, it’s prompted me to reflect what ways have I tried to be thriftier onthe travel front?
·I have a series of long distance trips coming up and was recommended this website by my friend and fellow T6er Helenhttp://www.splityourticket.co.uk/ which I think is useful for last minute bookings. However upon further google searching, I think it’s all about the advanced and single ticket bookings! I have been using this website http://www.mytrainticket.co.uk/where you can get up to 80% off!My day trip to Liverpool will cost £14.00 for two singles (at the times I want) compared to open return - £31.90. T6 saving:£17.90
Car sharing and taxi sharing has helped too. Pooling people together to get a taxi home can sometimes work out the same or even cheaper on a night out so I’ve been doing this.However, at the same time, if there are no extra people, I have been getting the bus into town (using my student card which costs me 50p) and getting the taxi back on nights out (which is bad, but busses stop at 11 and I suppose I am saving money on the way into town)!I think Ken will be blogging about nights out in general as mentioned on one of our T6 catch ups so hopefully she can pass on some tips for cheaper fun times.
3.Whilst we were away in the Lakes, it came to our attention and others that we may slightly indulge in keeping up with current affairs not of the Syrian conflict variety (which I know is bad) but of the ‘light’ and ‘fluffy’world of Grazia and Glamour which I like to think provides me a form of escapism for at least 15 minutes of the day. I worked out that a purchase of Glamour at £2 a month and ‘Look’ at a weekly cost of 1.40 will add to a annual cost of £163.20. So in an attempt to kerb spending, Ken and I will be doing a magazine/book swap. The first which will be happeningthis weekend so looking forward to seeing you soon GK for the swap and a cup of tea!
I also like to indulge in a bit of reading from time to time and I generally book swap between friends but I may extend this further as suggested by Rach (who seems to have many tips, so thank you) at work and leave any of my books in a box and people can leave their unwanted ones too for people to pick up and read. I suppose this would work on a courtesy system where I like to think people would not grab them all. I don’t think they would anyway.I also have become a little obsessed by the secondhand bookshop down my road, ‘The Last Chapter’ which sells books for £1-3 which is generally cheaper than ‘Amazon’ following P&P.
4.Fruit/veg and other food mantras
I think this section is probably less about thrift and more value for your money.Last weekend, upon recommendation from Jenny, I investigated the Sharrow Marrow fruit and veg shop on Sharrowvale Road. It is definitely worth checking out . Apart from my positive (civil) shopping experience which you don’t always get from your supermarket trip, the quality was so much better. I definitely felt like I got more for my money. A brief example and what I remember - I bought two avocados for £1 compared to £2 Coop and the peppers were huge! I spent £15 and it has lasted me all week.
This lady owns the Sharrow Marrow and was very helpful!
5. (Prescription) Drugs
Another random one but if there are any fellow asthmatics out there or those who require regular medication, I feel you may appreciate this slightly more. Over the years, prescription charges have risen to £7.20 per item. My last order came to £28.80 and as you can imagine, this can get pretty pricey if you are like me and lose your inhalers ALL the time so I decided to sign up for a 3 month medical card. You can collect them from chemists and it entitles you to your regular prescription for 3 months which prompted me to stock up! Sorry a bit of a lame one to mention but definitely a money saver over the long run! You can even get an annual prescriptionfor about £104.
Whilst I’ve documented what I have learnt, I am still very far away from being thrifty but thankfully there is still 4 months to go. I’m happy to say as I enter T2, I am noticing that small changes can make a difference. Oh- for the first time in what feels like forever, I am not in my overdraft.... good times J
PS – a dedication to Whitney. As GK said, ‘a voice of our generation ...’
